Safety razor



. l D. sTRAUss v 2 2 SAFETY RAZOR A 58,198

Filed NOV. 22, 1959 Y ting edge or edges.

Patented Oct. 7, 1941 SAFETY RAZOR David Strauss, Rochester, N. Y.,assigner of onchalf to Julius Simon, Rochester, N. Y.

Application November 22, 1939, Serial No. 305,726

11 Claims.

lying caps, are clamped by said caps tightly' against the blade seat ofthe head. This is true whether or not it is intended by the cap pressureto ex or distort the blades in cutting position.

The result of all such structures is that in use,

the blades are tightly clamped in position, holding the cutting edgesrigidly in immovable relation to the guards throughout the shavingoperation or in other words, throughout the intended use of the razor.

I have discovered that by a construction and arrangement ofthecorresponding parts of the razor in a manner permitting the blade tomove or shift in the plane of its body on the blade seat of the head, sothat its cutting edge is shiftable or yieldable toward and away from itsnormal eiective cutting position on the guard, IV am able to materiallyadd to the comfort and effectiveness of the shaving operation, as wellas considerably prolong the effective life of the blade and its cut As afurther consideration the invention proposes a construction andarrangement of parts which will bring about rm support of the blade onits seat and at the same time yieldingly maintain the same in a mannerpermitting its cutting edge to recede with respect to the guard, whichconstruction and arrangement accommodates itself to the use of either asingle or double edge blade.

For the' foregoing reasons I propose a safety razor of the constructionand relative arrangement of parts to be now described in reference toFigure 3 is a detail top plan view of the blade supporting head.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view oi the cap or cover plate.

Figure 5 is a detail plan viewof the blade, removed, and l Figure 6 is atop plan view of a blade supporting headillustrating a slightly modiedform.

Referring now to these figures and particularly to Figures 1 and 2, thehandle of the razor proposed by this invention is generally indicated atl0 and may be of any convenient form and length whichV practice mayindicate desirable. end the handle lis joined in any suitable manner 'toa blade supporting head or holder which is generally indicated at I l,and while in the present instance, as particularly seen in Figure 2, theholder l I is shown integrally united to the handle, it is obvious thatthis connection may be of any form which may be found suitable anddesirable for the purpose.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the head I l is disposed withrespect to the handle I0 at an angle inclined with 'respect to a rightangle for greater convenience in the shaving operation and this headwhich is generally rectangular and provides an upper blade seat, hasalong its forward edge a series of teeth forming a guard l2 at oppositeends of which are undercut blade engaging stops, in line with theeffective shaving position of the blade edge on the guard l2.

As far as the present invention is concerned the guard I2 and bladestops I3 may be of conventional form but in certain other respects theblade supporting head, Il embodies features peculiarly incident to thepresent invention. The blade ll is plainly seen in Figure 5 and theblade holding cap l5 is plainly shown in Figure 4, the latter beingemployed in the present instance to hold the blade Il on the head Il ina novel manner to be now described.

Centrally of the head l l there opens one end oi a bore. li extending ina direction generally the accompanying drawing, which illustrates In thedrawing, which forms apart of this' specication,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete rarer.

Figure 2 is a side view, partly in vertical longitudinal section, takentherethrough.

lengthwise ol' the complete razor, at right angles to the Vbladesupporting surface of the head il and through a lateral enlargement I1of the upper portion of the handle l0, at an angle inclined with respectto the longitudinal axis of the 2l of a stem 2|. This stem extendsthrough the bore li within which it is rotatable, and its op' posite endprojects beyond the handle er At one largement il and receives a rigidvknurlled head or flngerpiece 22 which may be conveniently manipulatedto rotate the stem 2i.

The cap I has along its rear edge an. angular ilange 23 which, when thecap is placed in proper position overlying the blade it, engages aposiaesaioe p g y `with its longitudinal ribs between the lugs 2l itsforward edge will be positioned beneath the blade stops i3 and properlyaligned on the guard i2 tioning fiange 24 upstanding along the rear edgethe blade and all of the remaining portion of the cap is spacedsubstantially from the blade in use. l To preserve this relation of theparts and at the saine time clamp the cap tightly in place, it isprovided upon its lowersuriace with a hoilow internally threaded boss 25of a diameter to enter the counterbore i8 and seat against the shoulderforming the base of this counterbore. This boss receives thethreaded'head 2d of the stem 2i and it is obvious that upon properrotaand in thus referring to the forward edge of the blade it is to beunderstood that by this is meant the forward edge of the blade as placedon the head, it being obvious that this arrangement provides for the useof either a single or double edge blade.

When the blade is so placed its rear portion will rest upon the-roundedbosses 2G and by a proper vproportioning of the cap boss which limitsengagement of the forward portion of the cap with the blade to a merecontact without` pressure, the blade is thus held so that in use it mayshift; transversely thereof to permit receding of its cutting edge withrespect to the guard i2 under pressure of the elasticity of its ribs 3d.

In order to permit the forward edge of the cap i 5 to engage the bladeIt whilecreating minimum frictional resistance to the above-describedmove ment of the blade in use, I may provide the under tion of the stemthe cap it will thus be drawn snugly and firmly into the position shownin Figure 2, the engagement of the lower edge of its boss with theshouldered base o counterbore itlimiting its movement toward the headand thus limiting the degree of pressure of the forward I edge of thecap on the blade id,

For lthe seating of the blade, the head il has rearwardly of its centerupstanding and preferably rounded bosses 2d on which the blade restsrearwardly of its longitudinal center so that the blade is thus held' ona slight incline with respect to the upper surface of the headsubstantially less, however, than the incline of the cap it with respectto the head, the blade when so seated, having its forward edge disposedalong the guard l2 with its end portions beneath. the undercut bladestops it.-

The blade is, moreover, provided at its center with an opening illathrough which the cap boss ing Id is preferably elongated in a direction.transversely of the blade, to an extent that in preferably aligned withone another and with the axis of the bore i6, .are upstanding pairs oflugs 21 forming between them spaces 28. The

. blade I4 is provided at its opposite ends with pairs of longitudinallyslotted recesses 29 forming between them longitudinal ribs 3c havingouter free ends adapted to seat in the spaces 28 between the upstandinglugs 21 of the head as Just previously mentioned.

Preferably the slotted recesses 29 of the blade I4 are such that theribs 30 resulting between them are thin and exible in the plane ofthebody of the blade to a degree permitting the blade, when these ribs areseated in the spaces 28 between the lugs 21 of the holder il to beshifted in the plane of its body between the blade supporting head Iland the cap. l5. l

For the above purposes the blade is so proportloned that when initiallyseated on the head '25 may extend or project, and this blade openvsurface of the forward edge of the cap with a 1ongitudinal series ofrecesses ti, as plainly seen in Figure 4, which will have the effect yofreducing the area of contact to the extent of the proportion of theserecesses to the remainder of the edge of the cap.

While some means of an elastic nature is, of course, necessary to holdthe cutting edge of the blade normally in the proper cutting positionwith respect to the guard l2, it may be that instead of thin, flexibleand elastic ribs 3d formed in cony .nection with the blade in the mannerpreviously described, I may utilize a blade ini-which these ribs are ofsubstantially greater width and inelastic in the plane of the body ofthe blade. In this event the upstanding lugs 2i of the blade supportinghead Il will be posltionedto afford substantially greater spaces betweenthem than the widths of the blade ribs, and the rearmost lugs of bothpairs may have, as seen in Figure 6, angular spring members 32 yanchoredthereto with portions projecting into the spaces to act against theblade ribs and thus serve the same purpose, and bring about` the sameresult, as the thin elastici blade ribs previously described.

In any event/the result of the structure as thus fully described is tomaintain the blade'in a manner whereby it is in use elastically held ineffective shaving position and capable of yielding when facialobstructions as well as excessively tough portions of the beard areencountered. 'I'his capability I have found not only adds greatly to thecomfort of the shaving operation, but considerably relieves the strainsplaced upon rig' idly clamped blades and the relief of this strainsubstantially prolongs the effective life of the cutting edge of theblade.

What is claimed is:

l. -A safety razor comprising a handle, a blade supporting head at oneend of the handle having an upper blade Supporting surface and a guardalong one` side thereof, a blade slidably supported on said surface andhaving a centrally located opening, a cover plate overlying the bladehaving a flange engaging the opposite edge of the head and a hollowinternally threaded boss extending into engagement with a'portion of thehead through the opening of the blade and limiting movement of the coverplate toward the head and maintaining-the plate in non-clamping relationwith the blade whereby the latter is freeto slidably shift on the headtoward and away from the guard, a stem rotatable through a portion ofthe handle and through the head having a threaded end for engagement inthe threaded boss of the cover plate to clamp the latter Iin connectionwith the head, and spring means .for

.resillently restraining sliding movements of the guard portion adaptedto underlie said edge when' the blade is in position in the holder, acover plate adapted to overlie the blade on the holder, means forclamping the cover plate lightly in contact with the blade in the holderto prevent dislodgment of the blade from the plane of said supportingsurface, and cooperating means on the blade `and holder for yieldinglymaintaining the blade centered upon the supporting surface whilepermitting limited lateral displacement of the blade in its own planerelative to the cover plate and supporting surface during use of therazor.

3. A safety razor including a substantially rectangular flat bladehaving a marginal longitudinally-extending cutting edge, a holder forsaid blade having a flat blade-supporting surface for slidably receivingthe blade thereon including a guard portion adapted to underlie saidedge when the blade is in position in the holder, a cover plate adaptedto overlie the blade on the holder, means for adjustably clamping thecover` platev lightly in contact with the blade in the holder to preventdislodgment of the blade from the plane of said supporting surface, andcooperating means on the blade and holder for yieldingly maintaining theblade centered upon the supporting surface while permitting limitedlateral displacement of the blade in its own plane relative to the coverplate and supporting surface during use of the razor.

4. A safety razor including a substantially rectangular flat bladehaving a marginal longitudinally-extending cutting edge, a holder forsaid blade having a flat blade-supporting surface for slidably receivingthe blade thereon including a guard portion adapted to underlie saidedge when the blade is in position in the holder, retaining lugsprojecting upwardly from said surface and designed for engagement withthe cutting edge for determining the normal position of the blade in theholder, a cover plate adapted to overlie the blade on the holder, meansfor clamping the cover plate lightly in contact with the blade in theholder to prevent dislodgment of the blade from the plane of saidsupporting surface, and cooperating means on the blade and holder foryieldingly .maintaining the blade lightly in contact with said retaininglugs while permitting limited lateral displacement of the blade in itsown plane toward and'away from said lugs during use of the razor.

attains the blade in the holder yto prevent dislodgment of the bladefrom the plane of said supporting surface, a spring tongue on said bladecapable of being displaced laterally relative to the body of the bladeand in the plane thereof, and a stationary abutment on the holderdesigned for engagement with said tongue for maintainngthe blade inposition on said surface with its cutting edge bearing lightly againstsaid lugs, said blade being capable of lateral shifting movement in itsown plane relative tol the cover plate and supporting surface during useof the razor.

6. A safety razor including a substantially rectangular flat bladehaving a marginal longitudinally-extending cutting edge, a holder forsaid blade having a flat blade-supporting surface for slidably receivingtheblade thereon including a guard portion adapted to underlie said edgewhen the blade s in position in the holder, retaining lugs projectingupwardly from said surface and designed for engagement with the cuttingedge for determining the normal position of tongue for `maintaining theblade in position on said surface with its cutting edge bearing lightlyagainst'said lugs, said blade being capable of lateral shifting movementin its own plane rela* tive to the cover plate and supporting surfaceduring use of therazor.

7. A safety razor including a substantially rectangular flat bladehaving a marginal longitudinally-extending cutting edge, a holder forsaid blade having a iiat blade-supporting surface for 5. A safety razorincluding a substantially.

rectangular flat blade having a marginal longitudinally-ezrtendingcutting edge. a holder for said blade having a fiat blade-supportingsurface for slidably receiving the blade thereon including a guardportion adapted to underlie said edgev theblade in the holder, a coverplate adaptedl to overlie the blade on the holder, means for clampingthe cover plate lightly in contact with slidably receiving the bladethereon including a guard portion adapted to underlie said edge when theblade is in position in the holder, retaining lugs projecting upwardlyfrom said surface and designed for engagement with the cutting edge fordetermining the normal position of the blade in the holder, a coverplate adapted to overlie the blade on the holder, means for clamping thecover plate lightly in contact with the blade in the holder to preventdislodgmentvof the blade from the plane of said supporting surface, apair of longitudinally extending oppositely directed and outwardlyprojecting spring tongues on said blade capable of being displacedlaterally relative to the bodyof the blade andin the plane thereof, andapair of stationary abutments on the holder designed for respectiveengagement with said tongue for maintaining the blade in position onsaid surface with its cutting edge bearing lightly against said lugs,said blade being capable of lateral shifting movement in its own planerelative to the cover plate and supporting surface during use of therazor.

8. `A safety razor including a substantially rectangular flat bladehaving a marginal longitudinally-extending cutting edge, a holder Iorsaid blade having a iiat blade-supporting surface for slidably receivingthe blade thereon including 1 a guard portion adapted to underlie saidedge when the blade is in position in the holder, a cover plate adaptedto overlie the blade on the holder, means extending through said surfacevand blade fr justably clamping the cover plate lightly in contact withthe blade in the holder to prevent dislodgment of the blade from theplane of said supporting surface, and co operating means on the bladeand holder for yieldingly maintaining the blade centered upon k `thesupporting surface while permitting limited lateral displacement .of theblade in its own plane relative to the cover plate and supportingsurface during use of the razor.

9. A safety razor including a substantially rectangular at blade having.a marginal longiv the supporting surface while permitting limitedlateral displacement of theV blade in its own plane s relative to thecover plate and supporting surface during use of the razor.

10. A safety razor including a substantially rectangular fiat blade'having a marginal longitudinally-extending'cuttng edge, there being aninwardly extending recess in said blade at each end thereof, a exibletongue projecting outwardly from the inner edge of each recess andcontained wholly within thev confines of the recess, said tongues lbeingcapable of exin'g inov= ment in the plane of the blade, a holder fortheblade having a flat blade-supporting surface for slidably receiving theblade thereon including a guard portion adapted tounderlie the blade onthe holder, a cover plate adapted to overlie the blade on the holder,means for clamping the cover plate lightly in contact with the blade inVthe holder to prevent dislodgment of the blade fromthe plane of saidsupporting surface, and

stationary retaining abutments on said holder at opposite sides ofsaidsupporting surface adapted to receive the tongues therebetween foryieldingly maintaining -t'he blade centered uponv the supporting surfacewhile'permltting limited lateral displacement of the blade in its ownplane relative to the cover plate and supporting surface during use ofthe razor.

1l. A safety razor including a substantially rectangular fiat bladehaving a marginal longitudinally extending cutting edge, a holder forvsaid blade having a substantially ilat blade-supporting surface forslidably receiving the blade thereon, a cover plate adapted to overliethe blade on the holder, means for clamping the cover plate lightly incontact with the blade in the holder to prevent dislodgment of the bladefrom the plane of said supporting surface, and cooperating means on theblade and holder, for yieldingly maintaining the blade upon thesupporting surface while permitting limited lateral displacement of theblade in its own plane relative to the cover plate and supportingsurface during use of the razor.

DAVID smoes.

